THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Vera Wang, the celebrity designer, is extending her brand, first with a fragrance.

THE celebrity designer Vera Wang took the wedding dress out of its frilly time warp a decade ago and made it chic.

Now, the designer whose name is to upscale bridal gowns what Georgio Armani's is to men's suits is introducing a fragrance bearing her name and marketed toward the estimated 2.4 million women who become brides in the United States every year.

The department store fragrance is part of a larger licensing program by Ms. Wang to capitalize on her name -- not just as a designer of bridal and evening wear, but as an authority on taste and style. In the months ahead, Ms. Wang will also introduce Vera Wang China via Wedgwood USA, a luxury eye wear and sunglass collection and an evening and bridal shoe collection by Stuart Weitzman. HarperCollins Publishers released Ms. Wang's first book, ''Vera Wang on Weddings'' last fall. And Unilever Cosmetics International -- the division of the British-Dutch conglomerate that is introducing Vera Wang Fragrance next week -- and intends to develop other fragrance and cosmetic products under her name in the future.

The estimated $6 million print-only advertising campaign for Vera Wang Fragrance will feature a heavy schedule in bridal magazines. But the fragrance is not meant just for brides. It is also aimed at future brides deemed to be in the 25-to-35-year-old range. The thinking -- anathema to some feminists perhaps -- is that women of this age are likely to be seeking a long-term commitment. As a result, the campaign will also run in a wide range of magazines beginning on Feb. 10, in time for Valentine's Day.

''Bridal is not just about girls getting married -- it's about all women who want to, or aspire to, or who see in their future this notion of commitment,'' said Laura Lee Miller, president of Unilever Prestige, a unit of Unilever Cosmetics. ''It's more about the hope, the desire, the commitment, and the enduring love that we all hope to find.''

Additionally, Unilever says that if a woman wears a scent during courtship and marriage, she will remain committed to it. Research by Unilever shows that 70 percent of women in the 25-to-35-year-old range said they continued to wear the scent they wore at their wedding because it reminded them of that day, Ms. Miller noted.

Unilever's advertising is meant to capture the intense romantic and passionate emotions felt on a wedding day. The campaign by Badger Kry & Partners in New York features dreamlike, impressionistic photographs of a bride, as well as another ad of a man and woman embracing -- perhaps a bride and groom -- in an intimate, private exchange.

''This first fragrance is to me perhaps what weddings symbolize,'' Ms. Wang said. ''For me it's about looking at it through more realistic and contemporary eyes and reflecting on how women feel about themselves. It's about sensuality and awareness and a willingness to take a chance. It's an act of bravery and optimism.''

A dozen years ago as a 40-year-old bride-to-be, Ms. Wang was a designer who discovered the bridal department was stuck in another era with its over-the-top lacey concoctions that were out of touch with modern women, especially older brides. She began designing sleeker, more modern bridal gowns -- a trend that has revolutionized bridal style the last decade. Her clients have included a wide range of celebrities from Sharon Stone to Uma Thurman.

The idea to license came when Ms. Wang realized she had built a name in weddings, but had nothing to sell the average person who can't afford a $4,000 wedding gown.

''Every designer is looking for an audience,'' Ms. Wang said. ''If they say they are not, they are kidding themselves.''

Unilever approached Ms. Wang two years ago, after the company created a new division intended to exploit the brand potential of designers and other authorities who have direct relationships with consumers, Ms. Miller said. Unilever was also seeking names that could be developed into whole lines, not just a single product.

''She really epitomized all that,'' Ms. Miller said. '' Clearly a lot of emotional territory is represented by the world of Vera Wang that we've only just begun to explore.''

Fashion licensing is a lucrative business -- representing $11.5 billion, or 16 percent, of the overall $70 billion licensing business last year, according to The Licensing Letter, a New York-based industry newsletter. But sales are down. Last year, sales of licensed products declined 5 percent, and sales in fashion licensing declined 9 percent, according to the newsletter.

One big danger in licensing is over-extending the brand, said Allan Mottus, editor of The Informationist, a cosmetics industry newsletter in New York. But Ms. Wang appears to be aggressively exploiting her slender niche, he said.

Ms. Wang also has what he views as a big advantage: a built-in bridal audience and an image that is likely to resonate with consumers right now. The continuing trend toward ''cocooning'' -- in which people desire home, family and commitment -- seems to fit nicely with Vera Wang's image, he said.

''It's a bad time to launch a fragrance because people aren't in the stores,'' Mr. Mottus said. ''But launching a fragrance for a designer noted for commitment and marriage, I think that's an opportunity.''